Poll Shows Elizabeth Warren Leading Massachusetts Senate Race

9/17/2012 3:20 PM ET

Democratic Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren has expanded her lead over Republican Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., in the potentially key Massachusetts Senate race, according to the results of a survey by the Western New England University Polling Institute.

The poll found that 50 percent of likely Massachusetts voters support Warren, while 44 percent support Brown and another 6 percent are undecided.

Among all registered voters, Warren has a wider 53 percent to 41 percent lead over Brown. The twelve-point lead in the latest poll compares to just a two-point lead for Warren in a poll conducted in late May.

Warren, who helped the Obama administration establish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and serves as a Harvard Law School professor, benefits from strong support among Democrats, who make up a large portion of the electorate in Massachusetts.

Older voters and women also favor Warren by a wide margin, while Brown leads among Republicans, independents and voters aged 30 to 49.

"Democrats are more fired up than independent voters at the moment," Tim Vercellotti, director of the WNEU Polling Institute said. "If that persists, that could pose a problem for Brown, who will need a strong turnout of independent voters to win re-election."

The outcome of the Massachusetts race could play a pivotal role in Republicans' attempt to win control of the Senate, as a Warren victory would increase the number of Democratic seats that would have to swing to the GOP.

The survey of 588 adults was conducted September 6th through 13th and included 444 likely voters and 545 registered voters.

The margin of error for likely voters was plus or minus 4.6 percentage points, while the margin of error for registered voters was plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.